5 Marketing Strategies and Online Tools for Self Published Authors

This post is intended to authors who are in the middle of writing their new book or for the newbies who want to publish their first book.

I am in the marketing niche and when I talk with new writers, most of the times, I find that the sales and advertising budget are the prominent resistance to them even before writing the book. They think that their work wouldn’t sell much or if they want to sell it, they’ll have to invest a huge amount to market it.

I can understand that they are not completely wrong but thanks to this advanced era of digital media, it’s much easier to sell your work online/offline than ever before. The only thing which should be under their consideration is the competition.

At the top of the game, there are two rules you should be following – first, you should draft a book that directly appeals to your targeted audience, and second, you will have to do everything to make your work discoverable.

I am not covering point #1 in this post, but there are two important resources worth checking:

• A post by Elizabeth Sims on WRITER’S DIGEST http://www.writersdigest.com/whats-new/7-simple-ways-to-make-a-good-story-great

• Book Covers Inspiration by Jacqueline Thomas on CANVA https://www.canva.com/learn/book-cover-design-50-amazing-covers-you-will-want-to-pick-up/

So we are directly jumping on the point #2 – “How to Effectively Market Your Book to Generate Sales?”

#1. Start With an Author Website and Show Your Book’s Preview –

Your book’s website or author’s website should be a place that introduces your potential readers to who you are and the writing work you have done till now. The intention of keeping such website is not only focusing towards a sales pitch for your upcoming book but also as an individual branding perspective. It will act like a portfolio of an author just like you.

Fredrica Cere Kussin does exactly right with her book and website – All Etiquette.

She classifies book into 12 chapters, keeps her introduction and she is also involved with blogging side – a perfect combination to get better visibility in search engine and social media results.

If you are new to PHP or WordPress technology, have a look at the free responsive website templates.

#2. Consider Search Engine Optimization of Your Website –

Try to figure out how people search your kind of books on Google and Bing. Use Google search and see various relevant search terms using Google auto suggest tool. Other tools are Google Adwords Keyword Planner Tool, SEM Rush, and Keyword Tool IO.

Once you identify money terms, apply HTML Meta Tags, Headings optimization, appealing CTAs with-in web copy, and blog posts optimization.

The better your web copy and backlink profile are, higher will be your search engine rankings.

#3. Don’t Ignore Social Media Buzz –

Social media is a must in the modern era of online marketing and an effective platform not to be ignored. Whether it’s about tweeting about your latest book or sharing snippets of your book on Instagram/Facebook, it’s a powerful and cost-free way to build a loyal following.

Some Rules to get the great results:

• If your social media network and the following is great, you would be able to see the great reach of your posts.

• If your social media accounts and pages are relatively new, you can opt paid advertising on Facebook, and/or Instagram. Go over these resources:

https://en-gb.facebook.com/business/products/ads https://business.instagram.com/advertising?locale=en_GB
https://help.instagram.com/537518769659039

• Influencers have more loyal followers than you. You shouldn’t ignore connecting with them and building a relationship. Their social words will make bigger impact, don’t forget!

#4. Get Real Testimonials –

Online buyers also look for user reviews and ratings before buying anything. If you’re an established author, getting lots of user reviews wouldn’t be a great deal for you, but if you’ve just started out, it could be a problem.

In such case, you can offer free copies to the limited number of users out of your contest or free give-away.

Get testimonials from social media, emails, referral resources and show it on the website. It brings trust for online visitors.

#5. Email Marketing, Most of the Times Worked. Leverage Out It’s magic –

In an order to build the email list, make sure you have kept email subscription form on your website. Email Open-Rates are relatively higher than the reach of your FB or Twitter Posts – There is no point not taking initiative for this marketing channel considering the very low budget required for it.

You just need the real list of your audience (and I mean the ideal audience). MailChimp’s free package will work fine at the beginning and once your list increases, you can upgrade the package according to your needs.

If you are trying to market your book on Kindle platform, go over this post – https://www.groundreport.com/market-kindle-book/

Conclusion:

You know your stuff and I am sure, you’re great at writing. All you need to do is keeping the marketing side as a priority and applying your best efforts towards all channels which can produce great ROI.